Nehwal, who slipped one place to third in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released Thursday - and replaced by World Champion Wang Yihan - defeated Belaetrix Manuputi of Indonesia 21-16 21-11 in a 34-minute women's singles match in the previous round.

The 22-year-old credited her parents with her success as a shuttler in the wake of that triumph, telling reporters: "Thanks to my parents who simply followed the actions directed by the almighty, I’ve got all the fame in badminton. Why they moved from Hisar to Hyderabad, only God knows. I did not know what hardship meant as I worked on the instructions of my coaches with full discipline."

Chinese ace Chen Long will play Kashyap Parupalli in an other enticing match-up at 17:40 GMT. The world No. 2 recorded a comfortable 21-15, 21-10 win over Takuma Ueda to qualify for the quarter-finals in what has been somewhat of a disappointing week for China's contingent.

At 19:40 GMT, all eyes will undoubtedly be on world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malayasia, who faces Vietnam's Tien Minh Nguyen.

The two-time All England champion recorded a straight games win over Wang Zhengming to qualify for the last eight and seems to have quickly regained his confidence after an opening round scare against Hong Kong's Wang Wing Ki who held match point.